Anambra 2013: Game of cash, guts and intrigues

As the electoral umpire blows the take-off whistle for the governorship race in Anambra State, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports that desperate political godfathers are poised to turn it to a delicate game of cash, guts and reckless intrigues

It is not certain if in recent times any governorship election in Nigeria has paraded the large number of desperate aspirants likely to be recorded in this year’s election in Anambra State.

Even before July 7, 2013, when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) finally released the guidelines for the election, over 20 of such aspirants, had been linked to some of the leading political parties, especially the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance ( APGA) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Between Monday, July 8, 2013 and now, more aspirants, some of who were hitherto believed to be indifferent, had dusted up their structures and have joined the long queue.

Anambra State office of INEC, which released the election guidelines, had said the governorship election is scheduled to hold on November 16, 2013.

So, the stage is set for the epic political battle to succeed Governor Peter Obi, whose eight-year tenure will terminate on March 17, 2014.

The thrills:

It began long before the recent directives, but with the latest development, Anambra State is on fire, literarily speaking. From Onitsha to Awka and from Oyi to Iheala, the political tempo has been energised as politicians move into the grassroots to mobilise support.

The Nation’s investigation of the cause of the noted high spirits have revealed that besides such minor explanations openly advanced, like the recent leadership crisis in APGA and PDP’s sworn oath not to let go again, the old political godfathers in the state, angling to rediscover relevance are poised to engage the new lords, most of who are alleged to be extremely wealthy and equally desperate to hijack political power in Anambra State.

Although the August 18 flag off of campaigns is still over two weeks away, stakeholders have discreetly commenced campaigns. A source, describing the quality of campaigns so far, told The Nation that even the date of the governorship election has become an issue.

This is because the governorship election, scheduled for November 16, 2013, coincided with the birthday of Nigeria’s first president and the late Owelle of Onitsha, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who hailed from the state.

Ozo Udeme Uzodike in a chat with The Nation alleged that it was an unnamed aspirant that is trying to make an issue of this date.

According to him, “This aspirant and his party, afraid of the gains APGA has continued to make by exploiting Ojukwu’s links, are trying to introduce Nnamdi Azikiwe’s factor with the desperate hope that it would counter the Ojukwu sentiment.”

As a result of this scheme, it is now being discussed at the grassroots that INEC deliberately chose Zik’s birthday for the election as a way of honouring the late statesman. Already, some of the aspirants are either reinventing Zik’s fashion sense in a bid to pass off as his political children or are reeling out their plans on how to achieve, in Anambra, most of Zik’s noble dreams for Nigeria and Africa.

Another likely reason for the high spirit in the state today is the curiosity arising from APGA’s current puzzle. Both aspirants and supporters are eager to know how the leadership of the party will resolve the puzzle before the election.

This feeling is because, although the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu has resolved the issue of the leadership of the party in favour of Chief Victor Umeh by declaring that he remains the national chairman of the party, it is not certain if Chief Maxi Okwu’s group, which was sponsored by Governor Peter Obi, has accepted not to work against the party.

While Umeh was quoted as saying shortly after the Court of Appeal judgment that “party restructuring would begin in earnest to place APGA in a proper position” before the governorship polls, it remains to be seen how that could be done within the timeframe, especially since the Okwu camp is reported as planning to proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling.

This challenge notwithstanding, many aspirants are vying for APGA’s ticket. They include the incumbent Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Oseloka Obaze, the former SSG, Chief Chidi Odenigbo, former president of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Dr. Chike Obidigbo, Prince Chinned Idigo, Mr. Nnamdi Ekweozor, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife

For the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, the big names expected to make the difference include Senator Andy Uba, who was governor for 17 days in 2007 before the Supreme Court stopped him, Prof. Charles Soludo who was the party’s candidate in 2010, Senator Emma Anosike who was running mate to Soludo in the 2010 contest, Chief Nicholas Ukachukwu, who had vied for the position in the last three exercises, a Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on technical matters, Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo, Dr. Obinna Uzor, an old face in the race, Chief Ugochukwu Okeke, Chief Tony Nwoye who, as state chairman of the party, garnered mass support and Dr. Alex Obiogbolu.

The major parties in the race:

The major political parties that are likely to contest the election include, the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) which have fused into All Progressives Congress (APC).

PDP has dominated the politics of the state since 1999. Its candidates, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju and Dr Chris Ngige won elections as the governors from 1999 to 2003 and from 2003 to 2006 respectively. Its candidates have also won key electoral positions at the Senate and House of Representatives. It is on record that over the years, PDP produced the majority members in Anambra State House of Assembly.

The party’s fortunes, however, started a downward journey after some godfathers in the party organised the abortive attempt to forcefully remove Chris Ngige from office. This decline facilitated the emergence of Peter Obi and APGA in the state. Since then, the party is yet to reclaim power in the state.

All Progressives Grand Alliance

The ruling party has held power in the state since 2006 when Obi took over power as governor then.

In 2010, APGA under the control and leadership of Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu and Chief Victor Umeh, the National Chairman, retained power as Obi won a reelection.

Today, with Ojukwu’s exit and the face-off between Obi and Umeh, it remains to be seen the effect on the fortunes of the party.

All Progressives Congress

With the merger and fusion of ACN, ANPP, CPC and some members of APGA into APC, this new party is obviously formidable enough to vie for Obi’s seat.

This will easily manifest if influential members of the merger in the state, like Senator Ngige, Chief Godwin Ezeemo and Senator Annie Okonkwo, work together to achieve the common goal.

Some of the aspirants:

Some of the noted aspirants include Sen. Andy Uba, Dr Chris Ngige, former governor and ACN Senator who is being touted as the likely APC candidate, Chief (Mrs) Uche Ekwunife, an APGA member of the House of Representatives. She is fighting for the ticket of APGA. There is also Professor Chukwuma Soludo,he is also eyeing the PDP ticket, Dr Alex Obiogbolu is another key PDP ticket hopeful, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu also a contender for the PDP ticket and Senator Emma Anosike also of the PDP.

Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige, a serving senator and chieftain of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), is a former governor of Anambra State, who left office after three years as a result of a court’s ruling on the election that brought him to power in 2003.

In spite of the circumstances that led to his exit from the Awka Government House, Ngige, according to our findings, remains one of the single most popular politicians in Anambra State till date.

This, according to a source, was because of his mass appeal, punctuated more concretely by the way he opened up virtually all the areas in Anambra State through road construction. He also won mass appeal because of his historic battle with political godfathers.

While these factors will still count for Ngige, his major challenge may be funding as most of his rivals are very wealthy and may resort to use of money to win support and votes.

Since Ngige left office as governor, he has never hidden his interest to return to the Government House. In 2010 governorship election, he came third. He therefore contested the senatorial seat in 2011 and won by defeating Prof. Dora Akunyili, the former NAFDAC boss and former Minister of Information and Communication.

If he contests this year’s election, Ngige will be a major candidate to beat, primarily because of his soaring image.

Senator Andy Uba:

Senator Andy Uba, like Dr. Chris Ngige, is a former governor of Anambra State, who left office as a result of a court’s ruling on the election that brought him to power. Unlike Ngige, who served for three years and made impact before his exit, Uba was sacked by the courts two weeks after he was sworn in. Today, he is the senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District.

Before his short stay at Awka Government House, Uba served as a powerful Personal Assistant to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Though he contested the Anambra governorship election in 2010 on the ticket of Labour Party and lost, Uba’s strength remains what insiders call his grip of the structure of PDP in Anambra State, his deep pocket and alleged generosity.

If these factors combine to give him the PDP ticket, there is still fear if he can win the election proper. This fear draws from the image his family has continued to contend with since his brother, Chris Uba’s political battle with Ngige. Many still blame the family for the flawed election that gave Ngige victory before the court sacked him and for most of the political fracas of that era, including the notorious kidnapping of Ngige, who was a sitting governor then.

Senator Annie Okonkwo

Senator Annie Okonkwo, who represented Anambra Central Senatorial District in the past on the ticket of PDP, has emerged a leader of All Progressives Congress, (APC).

Although Okonkwo may not have declared interest, there are suggestions, based on his known previous interests and attempts, that he may contest for the office again.

But the puzzle seems to be the presence of Senator Chris Ngige, from his local government area and senatorial zone, in the same APC. It remains to be seen what the game plan would be.

Prof. Chukwuma Soludo

Erudite former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Chukwuma Soludo, who hails from Aniocha Local Government Area of Anambra State, is not a new face in Anambra State’s governorship race.

He lost the same election in 2010, to Governor Obi.

Insiders in PDP allege that the controversy over his emergence as PDP candidate in the last governorship election may still pose as an obstacle for Soludo, as some powerful forces in the party are yet to forgive him. So, if he is interested in governing Anambra, his first major obstacle is to secure PDP’s ticket.

Hon. Uche Ekwunife:

Another well discussed aspirant to Awka Government House is the flamboyant member of House of Representatives, Hon. Uche Ekwunife. She is not entirely new in the race as she participated in 2010 as a candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA). She lost that election.

Ifeanyi Ubah

Chief Ifeanyi Ubah, believed to be very wealthy, is one of the most talked about aspirants to succeed Obi.

Although it is not certain today, which political party the boss of Capital Oil will ride on to fulfill his ambition, it is obvious that his entrance into the race has raised the stakes, as he is alleged to have voted unheard of sums of money to daze any political opponent and grab the ticket of any political party of choice.

Although money has traditionally played a major role in the politics of Anambra State, it remains to be seen how far this strategy will take Ubah today.

Dr. Chike Obidigbo

One of the major selling points for the candidacy of Dr. Chike Obidigbo from Umunya, in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State is the debate that it is the turn of Anambra North to produce a governor for the state.

Obidigbo is also said to be a respected industrialist in Nigeria.

Prince John Emeka

Former Minister of Water Transport, Prince John Emeka from Mmiata Anam, in Anambra West Local Government Area, is another aspirant alleged to be banking on the call for Anambra North to produce the next governor of the state. Recently, he summoned a meeting of political stakeholders in the area, to intimate than of his desire to seek their mandate.

Factors that may determine the results

Except other last minute issues arise to turn the table, some of the factors that are likely to determine Obi’s successor may include but not limited to:

Zoning:

In spite of criticisms against the outgoing governor, Peter Obi, one political masterstroke he had made, which may turn out to be a major factor in this election, is the promise to zone the governorship to Anambra North Senatorial zone.

It is alleged that the zone has not produced the state’s number one executive and must be allowed to do so now. Of course, critics of this claim has denied existence of zoning in Anambra and had emphasised the need for merit instead of zoning.

How this factor will play out remains to be seen.

The ruling party factor

The recent leadership crisis in All Progressives Grand Alliance is a major factor in this election. This is so because, as the ruling party, APGA is supposed to be near unbeatable, but the division, before the resolution by the appeal court may be easily exploited by the opponents to snatch victory from APGA.